Executor Resignation and Removal Requirements in Mississippi

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Mississippi retains the separate statutory offices executor and administrator. The chancery court already administering the estate has jurisdiction over execution of that office, estate demands, and liability on the fiduciary bond.

Any interested person may use the general removal route

Under Miss. Code § 91-7-85, any person interested may seek removal on five days' notice to the executor or administrator. The operative grounds are that the fiduciary has become disqualified or has engaged in improper conduct in office. The word may makes this general removal authority discretionary.

The broader derelict-fiduciary procedure in §§ 91-7-285 to 91-7-289 also allows an interested party to apply, and expressly permits the chancery court or chancellor to proceed on its own motion. A bond surety has a narrower route: under § 91-7-317, a surety apprehending loss may petition for a new bond and prospective discharge.

Some defaults carry a mandatory consequence

Mississippi separates discretionary misconduct removal from several route-specific mandatory rules:

• If one of multiple fiduciaries refuses to join in returning the inventory, that person's power and authority cease. The delinquent has 60 days to offer a reasonable excuse that the court may deem satisfactory.
• If an executed inventory summons produces neither an appearance nor good cause, the court or clerk shall revoke the letters and grant administration anew.
• If the court orders a new bond because existing security is insufficient, default after five days' notice requires revocation and administration de bonis non.
• After a surety petition, refusal or failure to provide the required new bond requires removal and administration de bonis non.
• If a will is later probated and testamentary letters are granted, the prior administration is revoked, although lawful acts done without actual notice remain valid.

Section 91-7-65 bars letters from being granted to a person under 18, of unsound mind, or convicted of a felony. It is an appointment qualification rule. Post-appointment disqualification remains within § 91-7-85's discretionary may be removed language.

Accounting and administration defaults add discretionary routes

The court may remove for failure to file the generally required annual sworn account under § 91-7-277. The clerk's annual default docket produces a citation to the fiduciary and sureties; absent sufficient cause and a showing that the failure was not negligent or contumacious, the court proceeds for contempt and may also remove the fiduciary.

The dereliction statutes reach failure to perform any duty imposed by law or a court order, plus any other removal cause prescribed by law. After the hearing, the court may remove, punish for contempt, do both, enter another just order, or continue the matter. A nonresident fiduciary, or one who moves out of Mississippi, may also lose letters after publication or personal notice for annual-account neglect or other neglect of due administration.

Inventory rules supply two more routes. Failure to file a proper inventory after an executed show-cause summons has the mandatory consequence described above. If an interested person's petition establishes that the original inventory was incomplete, the court may order a new inventory and may revoke letters if the fiduciary does not comply.

Resignation is a surrender followed by notice and settlement

Section 91-7-85 says an executor or administrator may surrender the trust. The statute then requires proper notice to distributees or legatees and settlement with the court. It does not state a signed-writing form, a fixed notice period, beneficiary consent, or a separate court-acceptance or estate-jeopardy finding.

Resignation does not end responsibility immediately. The outgoing fiduciary remains answerable to the court and liable on the bond until final settlement and satisfaction. Administration after resignation is granted as it would be after the fiduciary's death.

Citation timing depends on whether the fiduciary can be found

The general § 91-7-85 route uses five days' notice. Under § 91-7-285, the clerk issues a show-cause citation directed to the sheriff of the fiduciary's county of residence if known, otherwise to the sheriff where the estate matter is pending. It may be returnable forthwith or at another time and place set by the court.

If diligent sheriff search cannot find the fiduciary, the clerk files an affidavit concerning the person's whereabouts and address. For an unknown, nonresident, or absent fiduciary, an alias citation sets a show-cause date at least 30 days after the order. The sheriff posts it at three public places, including the courthouse, at least 21 days before return; the clerk also mails a copy if an address is known. On proper service or publication, the court may hold the hearing and grant the statutory relief.

The surveyed removal provisions do not create an express suspension of powers. Mississippi's temporary-administrator statutes instead address estate preservation before regular letters, a will contest, or an appeal from a grant of letters. When that narrow route applies, the temporary administrator takes an oath and bond, inventories the estate, publishes creditor notice, and exercises the special or general powers stated in the temporary letters.

Final settlement controls continuing liability

Annual sworn accounts are generally due at least once each year, unless the will or court waives them, the court extends time for cause, or the court later orders an account. Once debts have been paid and assets collected, the executor or administrator generally files a final sworn account.

The final-account package includes the sworn interested-party statement under § 91-7-293. Interested parties receive summons or publication for a hearing at least 30 days after service or completion of publication. The court examines the account, hears supporting and opposing evidence, approves it if correct, and orders distribution. Compensation and necessary expenses remain subject to the court's final-settlement allowance under § 91-7-299.

Any person injured by a bond breach may sue under § 91-7-311. Legatees, distributees, and creditors may proceed jointly or separately against the principal and surety for devastavit without first establishing it in a separate suit. A replacement bond ordered for insufficiency is cumulative and covers past and future liability. On a surety petition, the original bond stops covering future acts only after the new bond is given; earlier liability remains.

Administration de bonis non fills the vacancy

After death, resignation, removal, or incompetence, § 91-7-69 requires letters of administration de bonis non, with the will annexed when applicable, to issue to the person entitled. The successor gives the ordinary oath and bond adapted to the successor office and proceeds with administration.

For an intestate estate, § 91-7-63 generally prefers the applying spouse, then other applying relatives next entitled to distribution. The court selects among persons of equal right based on capacity to manage the estate and may use the other statutory appointee routes. The administrator de bonis non receives the former fiduciary's choses in action and the limited authority stated in § 91-7-71 to pursue a predecessor's bond, challenge accounts, and seek an additional bond for recovery proceedings.

When a temporary administrator is followed by regular letters, temporary authority ceases. The temporary fiduciary must at once settle accounts, deliver the estate, and furnish the successor a list of judgments and suits; refusal can lead to attachment, contempt fine, and suit on the temporary bond.

Transition rules are narrow and route-specific

The surveyed provisions do not state a special removal appeal, automatic stay, or general reinstatement rule. They do specify that lawful acts before actual notice of later-will revocation remain valid. After surety-petition removal, prior acts and proceedings are treated and conducted by or against the successor as on the fiduciary's death.

The inventory-refusal statute is the limited reinstatement-like exception: a cofiduciary whose authority ceased may, within 60 days, assign a reasonable excuse that the court may deem satisfactory. For ordinary resignation or removal, successor administration follows as on death, while the outgoing fiduciary remains answerable and bonded through final settlement and satisfaction.

Statutes and sources

• Miss. Code Ann. § 9-5-83 — chancery-court estate and bond jurisdiction. Official-code Title 9 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-53 to 91-7-59 — temporary-administrator appointment, bond, powers, account, delivery, and compensation. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-63, 91-7-65, 91-7-69, and 91-7-71 — appointment priority and disqualification, administration de bonis non, successor powers, and predecessor-bond proceedings. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-85, 91-7-87, and 91-7-89 — general removal, surrender, continuing liability, later-will revocation, and nonresident neglect. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-93, 91-7-99, 91-7-105, and 91-7-107 — inventory duties, authority cessation, summons, revocation, and additional inventory. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-277 and 91-7-283 — annual accounts, bond breach, clerk citation, contempt, and discretionary removal. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-285, 91-7-287, and 91-7-289 — derelict-fiduciary citation, substitute service, hearing, removal, contempt, and other relief. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-291 to 91-7-299 — final sworn account, interested-party statement, 30-day process, hearing, approval, distribution, compensation, and expenses. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-311 to 91-7-317 — bond actions, insufficient security, surety petition, replacement bond, mandatory removal, and successor transition. Official-code Title 91 release (accessed August 28, 2026).